Merry Christmas, Clover
by EverlastingEvanescence
Summary: My Christmas related fanfiction for this year, Clover gets sad when her parents aren't able to come for Christmas. It'll take a miracle for them to get here, but will that miracle come in the form of her arch rival, Mandy? Well, you'll have to read and find out.


Merry Christmas, Clover

Clover Lamoreaux was driving her pink convertible on the highway, going 20 miles over the 60-mile speed limit. Her two best friends, Sam Simpson and Alex Vasquez, were holding on to their seats in the back of the car with vice grips. The sky was dark with the stars barely visible in the sky due to the number of clouds, but there was more than enough light on the ground from all the cars on the highway. Clover was driving fast enough that the lights on her car made it look like a shooting star on the ground.

"Clover, I know you're excited to meet your parents, but do you have to try and break the sound barrier!?" Sam yelled as Clover made a sharp right turn. "The roads are covered in a lot of snow, and I want to make it to Christmas in one piece!"

"I would, but that stupid mission made me late! Jerry really couldn't have gotten someone else to escort that guy to his house!?" Clover responded, taking another sharp right turn, causing Alex and Sam to bump into each other.

"I don't think they're going to leave without us, Clover. We're their ride after all," Alex countered, before the car came to a complete stop, sending them face-first into the headrests of the car's front seats. "Owww…"

"Come on guys! We're at the airport! Let's go see my Mom and Dad!" Clover said, running out of the car and into the airport. Sam and Alex sighed before they ran in after her, pushing and dodging past others. When they finally caught up with Clover, they saw her standing in front of a gate that was for people coming from Paris. The two of them ran next to Clover, and waited at the gate…

…and waited…

…and waited…

…and waited before Clover's smile faltered and she took out her phone to see what time it was. It was 8:45, 45 minutes after they said they would arrive. Clover looked around worriedly before spotting an attendant and running up to him.

"Excuse me, sir, has there been a delay in the flight from Paris?" Clover asked.

"No, ma'am. That flight arrived right on time and everyone got out without incident," the attendant responded. Clover's face contorted into one of shock before checking her phone again. When she did, she saw that her mother had left her a text message. She read it, and her legs got so weak that she slunk down to the floor with her tears forming out of the corner of her eyes. Alex and Sam ran to her side and knelt down to Clover's level.

"Clover, what happened?" Clover looked up at Sam and gave Sam her phone. Sam looked at the phone, and on it was the message from Clover's mother, which said; _"Bonjour meil, your father and I were really excited to see you this Christmas, but unfortunately we missed our flight. We will not able to make it to Beverly Hills for Christmas this year. We are so sorry meil, we'll send your gift through airmail and do something else together some other time. Have a happy Christmas Clover. We love you, Mama_.

"Oh Clover…I'm so sorry," Sam said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder along with Alex. Clover looked at Sam with a sad look on her face before getting up, and trudging away from the gate, and headed back to the parking lot. Sam and Alex caught up with her and looked at Clover worriedly while they were walking before they got to their car and went into the backseat rather than the driver's seat. Alex and Sam looked at each other before Sam took the wheel and Alex sat in the passenger seat before leaving the airport and heading back to their penthouse. As they were driving, Alex and Sam looked back at Clover, who was laying down in the backseat face down, trying to rub the tears out of her eyes before she could cry them out.

"Clover…it's OK. You and your parents can spend time together another time like your Mom said," Alex said in a soothing voice, patting Clover's back. Clover suddenly sprung up, slapped Alex's hand off of her, and glared at her.

"I KNOW, BUT THAT'S NOT THE PROBLEM!" Clover yelled at Alex, causing her to slink back into her seat. Clover looked at Alex's scared face before she took a few deep breaths and calmed down with her face going from angry to apologetic. "I'm sorry, Alex. It's just…Christmas is an important tradition to me and my parents. No matter how busy my parents were, we would always spend time together for Christmas. But now…I won't get to see them and it just sucks!" Clover explained. After another 20 minutes of the three girls drove in solemn silence, they arrived back home. Clover got out of the car and slumped to the house.

"Well, well, well, look at what the cat dragged in," a condescending and nasally voice called. It was the girls most hated enemy and neighbor, Mandy, who was smirking at Clover's sulking form. Clover looked up at Mandy, tears starting to pool around her eyes, but she didn't look angry, she just continued to look sad.

"Oh…hey Mandy," Clover mumbled, before continuing her way to the house. Mandy did a double take and before she could say something else, Clover had already continued her way towards the house.

"Clover, do you want to do something? Like watch a movie?" Alex asked.

"No, I'm going to bed," Clover mumbled again, much to the shock of Sam, Alex, and even Mandy.

"But…it's not even 10 yet. You never go to bed before 12 over the weekend or on holidays," Sam pointed out.

"I don't care. I'm not in the mood for watching a movie or anything right now," Clover responded, before opening the door to the house and trudging up the stairs, heading to her room. Alex and Sam looked at each other in worry before Mandy chimed in.

"What's wrong with her? I've never seen her that depressed before," Mandy asked, sounding genuinely curious. After a brief moment of deciding whether or not to tell her, they sighed as Alex began to explain.

"Clover's parents aren't going to be able to come from France to spend Christmas with her, and she's really sad about it," Alex explained.

"Oh…," Mandy looked as sad as Clover did before she nodded and went back into her house. Sam and Alex looked at each other and shrugged before going inside their house for some last minute Christmas preparations. Meanwhile, Mandy went up to her room and from her window, she could see Clover's room. She looked out the window, and saw Clover laying down on her bed, trying in vain to wipe tears from her face. While she was in her bed, Clover was looking at a photo album, presumably with pictures of her family. Mandy looked at Clover sadly before shaking her head and glaring back at Clover.

"Why the hell do I feel sorry for that loser? We hate each other, I shouldn't feel bad for her," Mandy mumbled to herself before she saw that the tears she noticed in Clover's eyes pouring out of her, and the twist in her heart came back. She looked at Clover bawling under her sheets, and sighed before she picked up her cell phone.

"Hello? Juvi? Yeah, it's me Mandy. Listen, I know it's late, but…I need to help me out with something," Mandy began to explain before she and Juvi continued their conversation.

**Christmas Morning…**

"Merry Christmas everyone!" Alex excitedly exclaimed, causing Sam, Sam's mom, and Alex's parents to cheer. Clover, however, with her hair still not brushed and her face still covered in dried tears, just sat down on the pink couch with her head facing the floor. Alex, noticing Clover's sad attitude, picked Clover up by her hand, and led her to underneath the Christmas tree. "Clover, come and open your gifts first," Alex offered. Clover sighed before she took a seat on the floor next to the Christmas tree and started unwrapping her presents. She got a new pair of headphones, a couple of very nice shirts, a coffee maker, and even a necklace. Throughout the entire process of taking her gifts out of the boxes, Clover's miserable face and demeanor hadn't changed at all.

"What's wrong Clover? You don't like your gifts?" Sam asked. Clover looked up at Sam, then to Alex, and then at Sam and Alex's parents, and sighed apologetically.

"No, these are great gifts, really. But…I…I'm just not in the mood to celebrate," Clover admitted before she got up from the floor with her gifts in hand. "Thank you all for the gifts, but I think I'm just going to go back to my room," Clover said with dejection in her voice as she started to trudge back to her room. Before anyone in the living room could convince her to stay, they heard the doorbell ring. "That's probably my parent's gift. I'll get it," Clover said, putting her gifts down on the dining room table, and trudged to the door. When she opened it, all the energy had returned to her body as she looked up in complete disbelief at the visitors.

There was a man and a woman at the door who were both in dark gray business attire. The woman had a messy blonde ponytail, ruby red lipstick, a slim figure, black fingernails, and a warm smile on her face. The man had slightly darker skin than the woman standing next to him, but had Clover's light blue eyes, along with brown hair combed straight down, had an average build for a man, and looked around nervously at the amount of people in the home. Clover looked at the both of them, blinking and shaking her head to make sure what she was seeing was real. But then once she realized it was real, she smiled; these were her parents.

"Mom! Dad!" Clover cheered, practically jumping into their arms. Clover's Mom and Dad returned the hug, as everyone in the house looked on in complete shock, but a happy shock.

"Bonjour meil! It is so good to see you," Clover's mom responded, her French accent slipping through as she gave Clover a kiss on the top of her head.

"Yes, we're sorry we worried you," Clover's dad continued, running a hand through her hair. As elated as Clover was to know that her parents would be here with her for Christmas, she still had one question on her mind, and a very important and obvious question.

"But…how did you get here? I thought you missed your flight," Clover asked.

"Well meil, a friend of yours sent a private plane to us, and was able to get us here. We have only been here for an hour. We rode here as soon as we landed in Beverly Hills," Clover's mom explained. Clover gasped before turning to Sam and Alex, giving them a bear hug with a grateful look on her face.

"Awww you guys! You didn't have to do this for me!" Clover cheerfully exclaimed, as she unknowingly started choking Sam and Alex.

"What…are you talking about?" Alex coughed out.

"Yeah…we…had nothing…to do with this," Sam continued, trying to get as much air as she could in her lungs. Clover let go of Sam and Alex, looking at them with complete confusion in her face.

"Wait…so if you guys didn't do this, then who did?" Clover asked herself, before she turned to her parents.

"The pilot told us that this girl named Mandy sent him to us," Clover's father explained, leaving Clover even more shocked than she already was. Clover gave her parents another kiss on the cheek and ushered them to sit down on the couch with the other parents before she grabbed a coat, some shoes, and ran out the door and saw Mandy out front making a snowman.

"Hey Mandy!" Clover called from the other side of the fence. Mandy looked over at Clover and sighed before she walked up to her.

"What do you want?" Mandy asked, glaring at Clover with an annoyed voice accompanying it.

"Why did you do that?"

"What did I do what?"

"Why did you get my parents here to Beverly Hills?"

"Well, I heard you bawling like a baby from your room and decided to do it just to get you to shut the hell up," Mandy explained, scoffing at Clover with her usual attitude. Clover rolled her eyes before jamming her pointer finger in Mandy's chest.

"Oh please, that seems like a major thing to do for someone who's annoying you, don't you think? Now tell me the real reason why you did it," Clover asked again, folding her arms in front of her chest. Mandy looked as though she was just going to walk away, but looked remorseful at Clover and took a deep breath before she started talking again.

"When I was young…my parents were so busy that they couldn't spend Christmas with me. That's all changed now since they're both retired, but I always hated not having my parents there with me. And even though we hate each other…I hate having to see people go through the same thing," Mandy admitted, looking down at the ground. Clover stared at Mandy in stunned silence, not expecting this admission to come out of her mouth.

"Wow…that is…surprising," Clover mumbled before looking down like Mandy was. "Listen…I may still not like you, and you've made my life a living hell since I've known you, but…thank you. You…really have no idea how much this means to me," Clover admitted, extending her hand for a handshake. Mandy looked at her hand before she hesitantly accepted the handshake. The handshake between the two girls was firm, but friendly, before they released each other's hands.

"It's no problem, but don't expect me to give you any more favors for a long time," Mandy responded.

"Oh believe me, this changes nothing between us, but…I do appreciate this. Thanks again, Mandy," Clover said back with a smirk on her face. Mandy and Clover gave each other a nod of understanding before they headed their separate ways, with Clover in a hurry to see her parents, who were laughing and exchanging stories with Alex's parents and Sam's mom. Mandy looked back at Clover's excited jog back to her home with a smile on her face, a warm feeling swarming all over her body as she went back inside her own home. Clover's parents turned to her, and patted the blank spot on the pink couch in between them. Clover happily walked over to the spot, sat down, and wrapped an arm around both her parent's necks.

"Meil, we have your present right here," Clover's father said, giving Clover a small box wrapped in pink wrapping paper and a golden ribbon. Clover looked at the gift for a few seconds before she put the gift on the table and hugged her dad.

"Thanks Dad, but for right now, I just want to spend time with you and Mom," Clover said, before her father returned the hug. Sam, Alex, and their parents looked over at the now jovial Clover talking with her parents. What started out as one of the worst Christmases ever for Clover turned into another great memory between her and her parents, and it was all because of one of her arch enemies, Mandy.


End file.
